“And we went out to see the stars again…”

An excellent synthesis of the attitude with which we are heading out, or crossing, the postmodern period we are living in. Amelia is not only a village full of history, culture, food, wine, and slow tourism, but it is also a place where you can deeply look at the starry sky and learn something about science.

Far from heavy light pollution, Amelia offers an open-air theatre for all those who love to look at the sky, searching for stars and planets, moon craters and clusters. Anyone coming from a big city can “see” the sky in a way that can be done in few other places in Italy. For this reason, Amelia adheres to the association “Borghi Stellari” (Star Villages), which wants to connect places that stand out for the quality of their sky and for the presence of an observatory or a planetarium.

Favoured by the clear sky and the tranquillity of the Umbrian countryside, the Planetarium of Amelia is located a few kilometres from the center of Amelia, in the convent of Santissima Annunziata of the Friars Minor of Umbria, which, thanks to its telescopes, helps the human eye in its intent to study the sky, night and day.

The Planetarium is an optical-mechanical instrument that allows to recreate the image of the starry sky inside a hemispherical dome, as it can be seen by the naked eye under perfect visibility conditions.

Sitting under the dome, even in broad daylight or with a cloudy sky, the spectator has the impression of being in open country, far from city lights, to enjoy in all its charm the sight of a night sky completely free from light pollution.

The Planetarium is an amazingly effective educational tool that helps observers to recognize, thanks to appropriate optical systems, the most famous constellations, and the brightest stars not only in the northern hemisphere, but also in the southern hemisphere.

Its almost unique characteristics also offer representations of the sky at different times and at different latitudes, the projection in the dome of the ecliptic, the celestial equator, the astronomical coordinate systems, as well as the five planets visible to the naked eye and the movements of the Sun and the Moon.

The Friars Minor, who have always been committed not only to the contemplation of Creation but also to the spreading of science, decided to build the Planetarium in the 1980s, inside the building that once served as a barn and woodshed. Under its 6-meter-diameter dome, 60 people can sit comfortably. Today the Planetarium can accommodate groups for guided tours or observations with telescopes of the sun (day) or stars (night). The Planetarium organizes monthly exhibitions and cultural or musical events.

www.planetariodiamelia.org

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